Page 18 of His Beautiful Revenge
“Go ahead.”
Lucian sighed. “What I did to Norah …it’s unforgivable. It was a dumb mistake. No, not a mistake. It washorrendouswhat I put her through and I take full responsibility for it. I’ll go to the D.A. right now and plead guilty if she’ll just meet me to talk it through. I don’t want her forgiveness. Just …to talk.”
Zulika was studying him through narrowed eyes. “Rape, Lucian. Yourapedher.”
“Yes.”
There was a long silence. “I never thought you capable of that.”
He gave her a half-smile. “Believe me, I had no idea I was. I was just …I don’t know. An animal. A disgusting animal. I’m in AA now. Not that it excuses anything, but it’s a start.”
“Why should Norah give you the time of day?”
“No reason …except history. The fact that, because of you, we will always be connected somehow.”
Wrong tack. Zulika’s face hardened. “I have no problem cutting you out of my life, Lucian. It’s not like we have ever been close.”
He nodded slowly. “I know. But the thought of losing you both …it’s killing me. I will do my time for what I did to Norah, I swear. I will make this right. Believe it or not, I love both of you.”
Zulika sighed. “Okay, let’s cut to the chase. Norah isokay. Justokay. That girl has given you more chances than you deserve and she’ll probably do it again. So, if you want to make nice, it would create a better atmosphere for everyone. Norah, me, and your Dad. I still think you need to maintain a distance, but hey, that’s me. I will tell you this—if she says no, she says no. Don’t forget the restraining order is still in effect.”
Lucian rolled his eyes. “How could I forget?” He sighed and ran his hands through his hair so it stuck up. “Thing is, I know it’s over with Norah. How I thought we could ever make it work—I blew it when I slept with someone else, when I hurt Norah. I’m not stupid. I know that part of it is over. But I miss my buddy, my pal. We had a few great years together.”
She nodded. “If you think you can be just friends, then God be with you.”
“I’d like to try.”
Zulika chewed her lip. “I don’t know what Norah will say. I’ll talk to her, but I’m not going to plead your case—just repeat verbatim what you’ve said here today. Do you understand that?”
Lucian nodded. “I do.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes while Zulika contemplated her step-brother. She sat up and nodded at him. “Okay, tell you what. I’ll talk to Norah for you. I will.” She hesitated before continuing. “I’m going to tell you something else, and how you react to it will tell me for sure if I’m crazy for trusting you, okay?”
She waited for him to process what she’d said. She could see the myriad of questions whirling around his head. Finally, he nodded.
Zulika took a deep breath and hoped she wasn’t about to make the biggest mistake of her life.
Giacomo trailed his fingers down the length of her spine as Norah bent over her design table. She shivered with pleasure, then chuckled. “You’re distracting me, Conti. I’m trying to sketch here.”
“This sundress has no back. How do you expect me to concentrate on anything but your honey skin?” He pressed his lips to her spine and she gave up, laughing.
“We will never get this job finished at this rate.” She turned and smiled at him.
“I don’t care.” He bent his head to kiss her. The last month had been the happiest of her life, Working with Giacomo during the day and making love with him all night. Her life had changed so rapidly that it made her head spin.
She had spent time with him and his friends, and –Zulika—who was once again between boyfriends and so was co-opted by Sebastien as his new buddy—and found her life enriched by all of their presence. The only dark cloud was Lucian. Zulika had come to her and reported what he had said, but Norah shook her head. “No. I’m sorry. I can’t.”
She had told her lawyer she would drop the charges on the condition that Lucian never came near her again and that she got full and final custody of Ziggy. She didn’t want the court case and she most definitely didn’t want her new relationship brought into the spotlight. Lucian had agreed and now she had a lifelong restraining order and her freedom.
Giacomo noticed her reverie. “Penny for them?”
“Nothing,” she smiled, “Just taking pause, reflecting on my life. I have never been happier, baby.”
He grinned. “You know what we need? A vacation.”
She grinned. “Damn, boy, you will do just about anything to get out of work, won’t you?”
He laughed. “Fine. I’ll ask you again, later, when my cock is buried deep inside your delicious cunt …I find you agree to most things then.”
